US nominates activist Leo Brent Bozell III as ambassador to SA

US nominates conservative activist Leo Brent Bozell III as ambassador to SA

US President Donald Trump’s administration has nominated Leo Brent Bozell III, a conservative activist, to be the country’s ambassador to SA.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has nominated Leo Brent Bozell III, a conservative activist, to be the country’s ambassador to SA. Image: Wikimedia Commons

US President Donald Trump’s administration has nominated Leo Brent Bozell III, a conservative activist and writer, to be the country’s ambassador to South Africa.

The nomination, published on the US Congress’ website, comes amid strained ties between the two nations.

Leo Brent Bozell III, of Virginia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of South Africa, read the note, dated 24 March, received from Senate and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

The US are looking to replace Reuben Brigety who resigned on 10 January 2025.

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According to Bloomberg, Trump has been critical of South Africa on several fronts, including for a case it brought before the International Court of Justice accusing Israel, a top American ally, of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

More recently, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expelled SA ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, after the latter described Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement as a supremacist reaction to diversity in the United States.

Rasool was given days to leave America and was greeted with cheers and applause from hundreds of placard-waving supporters mostly clad in the green and yellow of the ruling African National Congress party upon landing at Cape Town International Airport on Sunday.

Rasool addressed the crowd and his tone and words did nothing to help mend relations between South Africa and the United States.

Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said that the president will carefully consider the new ambassadorial appointment, aiming to resolve the diplomatic stalemate without rushing the process.